>> very, very tasty and delicious. that's it for me. thanks very much for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." the news continues next on cnn. good evening. i'm john king. tonight supertuesday leaves mitt romney with a delegate lead his team says unsurmountable. who deserves a one on one shot at the frontrunner. plus israel's ambassador to the united states tells me more negotiations with iran may give tehran the time it needs to finish building a nuclear weapon. republicans pounce as the defense secretary says the obama white house would seek "international permission before using military force to stop the using military force to stop the bloodshed in syria." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the new post-super tuesday

reality in the republican race. a few things are obvious. mitt romney for example is the clear and undisputed frontrunner but a front run where giant question marks. ten states voted last night and romney won six including the big contested battle ground of ohio. the math now very much on his side. romney's 429 delegates are more than all of his three rivals combined. and they put him almost 40% of the way to the magic number required to clinch the nomination. 23 states have now weighed in on the republican race. and romney has won a come bind 3.2 million votes or 39%. rick santorum is a distant second at 2.1 million votes or 25%. but there is no rush for the exits or for a romney coronation. we have a great opportunity. in the next few weeks and this primary season. to stand up to the establishment. to stand up to all the money, to stand up to all the power brokers, stand up to all the lobbyists who are organizing the

favorite campaign. and have an insurgent candidate. >> senator santorum now gets a week that plays to his advantage. conservative-dominated contests in kansas, then mississippi and alabama. but what he won't get is a clear shot at romney. newt gingrich says santorum doesn't deserve it. >> we'll try to fix the audio on that and bring it to you later. joe johns on the trail tonight with rick santorum. the senator told the rally a short time ago he not only needs to win but win big. how much of that is a reflection of the delegate math reality, how much of it is an effort by santorum to send a message to gingrich? >> reporter: well, john, you know it's both when you really think about it. the math when you look at it. i'm not just talking about other campaigns looking at it. i'm talking about academics, college professors.

it's very hard to see how rick santorum or a newt gingrich under current circumstances with both of them in the race actually gets to that magic number of 1144 delegates without somebody dropping out. so that's one thing. the other half of it, of course, there really is a message going out from the santorum people to the gingrich people, and that seems to be a message of, it's time to get out. i mean, that came directly, at least, from the rick santorum super pac today. they put out a message today saying it's time for newt gingrich to go. gingrich, of course, says he's not going anywhere. as far as he's concerned, perhaps rick santorum isn't worthy of newt gingrich getting out. so bottom line is, probably going to be in this for awhiles john. >> bottom line i like the way you put this. newt gingrich doesn't think rick santorum is worthy. i think that's exactly the point he was making today. joe one santorum goal is to try

to inknock lat voters against what he knows is coming, negative ads from romney and the pro romney supporters. >> governor romney and his super pac will be out there spending millions of dollars telling you how i'm not a conservative. and this governor of massachusetts who signed in romney care is. >> now, santorum didn't spend a lot in ohio, joe, and his campaign just barely lost. so in part they think this tactic works, right? >> reporter: they do. and i've asked santorum about it more than once. about the ads. and frankly, he says, look, i've been hit by these ads again and again and again. i'm still standing. he admits he hasn't been able to pull out all of the wins he'd like to. nonetheless, he says, he's been able to perform very well with those ads coming against him. so he thinks he's just going to keep on doing what he's doing. at the same time he is planning on putting a significant million dollar ad buy out there coming up very soon in these upcoming

states in hopes of generating a little television advertising buzz of his own, john. >> and we'll see, joe, after all the criticism of the negative romney ads whether the santorum ads are positive or negative as well. joe johns for us on the trial in kansas. the romney campaign tried today to create an image of unrivalled strength. it announced it raised $11.5 million in february. its top strategist suggested that it is mathematic lick impossible for any of the other candidates to get to the 1144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. the candidate himself sounded confident he could with president obama's help, he says, heal the internal gop wounds once the nom nagt race is over. >> the community organizer has organized us in a big way. we're going to come together because we really believe that he needs to be replaced, that he's over his head, that the debt he's amassed, that the jobs he has not created suggest that this is a guy whose time has come for early retirement.

>> our chief political analyst gloria borger is with us from the cnn election center to help sort the truth from the spin. gloria i moved over to the wall to show folks the map. if you look at the map romney is starting to get impressive. wins new england, in the west, in the midwest. santorum in here. but i'm going to circle what comes. on? santorum in kansas today, mississippi and alabama the next. yes, tromney campaign has lead. what happens when you go to ground that is not romney territory? >> romney can lose. they know that, which is why his staff came out today and said he's a winner. we're going to win. and they figure the more they say that the more this inevitability takes hold and that people will vote for somebody that they believe is actually going to be the nominee. but they understand that they've got a bunch of tough races coming up which are really going to be contests not for mitt romney but they're going to be

between rick santorum and newt gingrich. the problem for mitt romney is that honestlies john, he doesn't really want either santorum or gingrich to drop out. because the longer they stay in it, they divide the vote that he's not really getting. which is the working class, conservative, evangelical voters. >> and let's show folks just what you mean by that. we have the kansas contest. then you have mississippi and alabama. i want to go to the delegate map. here's where we are now afr after super tuesday. governor romney 429. let's say senator santorum carries kansas. if santorum can win mississippi and alabama that would make santorum the conservative alternative. they're looking for this to happen. >> a split. >> gingrich wins here, maybe santorum wins one of them after winning kansas or gingrich wins both. if you had something like this happen romney would pick up some

delegates along the way. even if gingrich wins the two southern states and santorum wins kansas, santorum would be in second place. but a two to one lead for romney, gingrich a distant third. is this even though you're losing three contests in a row is that the best scenario, won't call it the dream scenario for romney? >> they'd like to have kind of a split decision between those two guys. no matter how it works out. i mean, the romney campaign says that they're looking towards illinois, they're looking towards missouri, they're looking towards, john, what we call the yankee primary april 24th which has lots of states in which romney could do well. although pennsylvania is in that group, so santorum could do well there. but they want to give themselves enough time to get a larger lead than they already have. so they really need these two fellows to stay in it. and even ron paul, by the way, to stay in it and keep dividing up their wins so that romney can

continue to move ahead. don't forget, these races are proportional, john. so there's not going to be another super tuesday. you're going to have to crawl across the finish line, right? >> crawling. not exactly what an athlete likes to have said about them as they get to the finish line, crawling across the finish line but true indeed. gloria thanks for your help tonight. for the first time today the united nations humanitarian keefe and her envoy why allowed into the shattered syrian district of baba amar. she had 45 minutes to tour the bombed out neighborhood following the deadly siege there. in a word she calls the area "devastated." the secretary of state hillary clinton used a different word "unacceptable." >> the regime's refusal to allow humanitarian workers to help feed the hungry, tend to the injured, bury the dead, marks a new low. tons of food and medicine are standing by while more civilians die, and the regime launches new

assaults. this is unacceptable. >> tiff words from the secretary of state hillary clinton there. but on capitol hill there's friction over what to do next. the defense secretary leon panetta is warning against military action. that's not how senator john mccain sees it. >> how many more have to die? 10,000 more? 20,000 more? how many more? >> i think the question as you stated yourself, senator, is the effort to try to build an international consensus as to what action we do take. that makes the most sense. what doesn't make sense is to take unilateral action at this point. >> our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is tracking this and standing by for us tonight. chris, why it's calm words but a pretty aggressive pushback against what mccain wants. >> reporter: well, john, it's because i've talked to some pentagon officials here. they say it's because going into syria is incredibly risky. and they don't want the united states to bear that risk alone. they want to share the burden so to speak.

they look at the situation and say this could easily devolve into a civil war. they look at 100 different groups making up the opposition. and they look at the options and the risks involved with each. the pentagon has prepared detailed military options, but they all carry risk. establishing a humanitarian corridor. well, hard to see how that would happen without ground troops to protect the food trucks. establishing a no fly zone. well, syria has managed to inflict a whole lot of damage with tanks and artillery on the ground, not so much in the air. and even limited air strikes are being considered. but again, they look at the fact that syria has five times the air defenses of libya, that it's got some highly densely populated areas that carry a lot of risks of civilian casualties. and the fact there's no free zone. there's no benghazi like you had in libya where you could say the rebels are on this side, the regime's on that side so we know exactly where to strike. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, look, we could

easily do a quick strike raid. that's doable. but any sort of sustained operation is going to be pretty challenging. >> and chris, you mentioned the challenges, the policy challenges, the action challenges if you will if you do have an operation. the secretary was talking about if it came to that, if they were trying to build some sort of international coalition. he used some language that piqued the republicans' interests. let's listen. >> when it comes to the national defense of this country, the president of the united states has the authority under the constitution to act to defend this country. and we will. if it comes to an operation where we're trying to build a coalition of nations to work together to go in and operate as we did in libya or bosnia yeah, for that matter afghanistan, we want to do it with permissions either by nato or by the international community. >> senator jeff sessions in particular, chris, took issue with seek permission. what did panetta mean by that? >> reporter: i spoke with a

senior defense department official a couple hours ago who tried to clarify the secretary's remarks. he said look, he wasn't ceding american authority to some foreign body. what he said was he was trying to re-emphasize the need to get some sort of international mandate which gives the operation more legitimacy. but i also spoke privately with senator sessions after that hearing. and he said, look, this is a real window into both the pentagon and the administration's mindset, that they spent weeks trying to romance all these other nations while egg foreing congress. jeff sessions doesn't buy the administration line that the assad regime is doomed to fail. he said dictators have a way of hanging on. he said the window to stop assad may quickly be closing. >> interesting difference between the two parties on that one. chris lawrence live at the pentagon tonight, chris, thanks so much. iran's growing nuclear capabilities a growing concern to israel. we're checking the mindset of israel's leaders who say time is running out to take military action.

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try align today. will israel strike iran in 2012? the israeli prime minister says diplomacy hasn't worked so far and in his words time is running out. >> iran's nuclear program continues to march forward. my friends, israel has waited patiently waited for the international community to resolve this issue. we've waited for diplomacy to work. we've waited for sanctions to work. none of us can afford to wait much longer. >> how do we define much longer? joining me now to answer that question the israeli ambassador to the united states michael oren. mr. ambassador it's good to see you. sober tone from the prime minister. since that speech the international community has

reached out to iran again and said come back to the table. israel is cautiously optimistic about that. but how worried are you that in giving iran more time for diplomacy what they're getting in the end is more time to work on their weapons system? >> we know from experience that iran has used talks to delay and stall while it keeps on enriching uranium while it keeps on developing its international ballistic missile program. we've had some bad experiences. as the prime minister said we've been waiting now for 20 years, warning about this program, we've had ten years of diplomacy, six years of sanctions. and according not just to our sources, according to the international intelligence atomic energy agency, they say that the program keeps on advancing, keeps on accelerating. apparently now at three times its speed. >> critical and we're told at sometimes tense meetings between the prime minister and the president of the united states and their delegations this week. it seems there's absolute agreement that iran must not get a weapon. the president says his goal is not containment, to deny them getting a weapon systems which is is what israel wants. where the disagreement we're

told where's that trigger, that red line, the point of no return. why does the administration see more time than the israeli government does? >> well, it's sort of a built-in structural difference. the united states a very big country with a big window. it looks out that window and sees the middle east very, very far away. we are a tiny country we're less than 1% the size of the united states with a very small window and we look out our window we see iran in our backyard. so it's built in. but i wouldn't characterize that meeting as tense in any way. i've been in that meeting, all the meetings. very cordial meeting. very constructive meeting. we've had an ongoing dialogue about the iranian issue and other regions. the entire region is aflame. >> republicans candidates for president say the united states has essentially been soft on israel. they say when the president of the united states says i've got israel's back they say no true. let let's listen. >> israel doesn't need lectures about decisions to weigh war and peace. it need our support. >> from what i've seen on this administration he has turned his

back on the people of israel. >> the red line is not the morning a bomb goes off. the red line is not the morning our intelligence community tells us they have failed once again. the red line is now. >> are they right? has this president of the united states undermined the relationship? has he turned his back on israel? is he asking israel to do things that prior u.s. presidents, democrat or republican have not done. >> of course i'm not going to get involved in internal american politics john as ambassador. but i'll say that president obama, the security relationship between our two countries under his presidency is really at a very, very high level. very close security relationships. he's led a courageous international effort to impose crippling sanctions on iran. he says that all options are on the table including military options. he says containment is not one of those options. but most importantly from our perspective he says that israel has a right to defend itself by itself against any middle-eastern threat or begin ancient of middle-eastern threats. >> you say they're wrong.

>> i'm repeating what president obama said. he said at the end of the day israel is a sovereign country and israel can decide what's best for its self-defense. >> if the iranian issue isn't enough for the neighborhood you have a lot of other hot spots in the neighborhood. one is syria. senator john mccain says the obama administration has waited too long to get tougher with assad. his zbln can you tell us how much longer the killing would have to continue? how many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind, that we are proposing necessary to end the killing and force to leave power? how many more have to die in 10,000 more? 20,000 more? >> the administration is reluctant especially to act alone. syria is your neighbor. i know you have no love lost for president assad. would the united states military strikes, would some sort of a nato or international operation and arab league military operation, would that help or hurt the situation right now? >> whether it be america's policy toward the syria

situation or toward iran, these rain term american issues. and they're legitimate debates on both sides of the aisle. >> it's your border. military jets flying dropping bombs in syria help or hurt? >> at the end of the day no one is a prophet here. i come from jerusalem but no one can tell you. we don't know what kind of government would replace him. having said that, we do think it would be better if he departs and we have that blow to iran and liberation for lebanon. >> mr. ambassador, appreciate your time today. as always, thank you, sir. still ahead cops bust a man smuggling seven pounds of heroin through a florida airport. but it's how he was hiding the drugs that left authorities scratching their heads. plus will he or won't he? tim tebow finally speaks out about whether he'll join "the bachelor" up coming season. for a limited time, passages malibu

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welcome back. kate bolduan is here with the latest news you need to know right now including a late development in the rush limbaugh controversy. >> reporter: news to bring to you real quick. in tonight senator carl levin says he wants the armed forces network to drop rush limbaugh from its service that beams radio and tv shows to u.s. troops around the globe. but the chairman of the armed services committee says it's an issue that "should be left to the folks that run that network." this comes after linl because called a law student an slut for her stance on contraceptives. . in an interview with our cnn

cnnespanol made fun of himself but used it to get in a dig towards republican's attitudes towards latino voters. >> i had trouble figuring out the democratic primary as vice-president so i haven't figured them out. i have figured one thing out. on all the fundamental issues that affect the hispanic community in america, no matter who the candidates are they're at odds with our position. >> reporter: in a very, very different story here is proof that drug smugglers will try simply anything. cust toms inspectors in orlando say a man arriving in central america acted much too nervous so they searched his duffle bag. they found and seized 172 lollipops with about 7 pounds of heroin in their centers. the man could face up to ten years in prison. good try on that one. and big news in pro football if you didn't already know. the indianapolis colts and quarterback peyton manning parted ways today.

it's a case of simply probably money trumping loyalty to be honest rather than pay manning a $28 million bonus the colts will retire his jersey number and let him play for somebody else. manning led the colts to 11 playoff aappearances in 14 seasons including one win and one loss in the super bowl. and i'm very sorry, ladies, denver quarterback tim tebow, he just batted down reports he's going to be tv's next bachelor. he tweets "ha-ha, rumors can be crazy, even though i've watched the show before i'm definitely not going to be on". sorry for the ladies. but i'll assure you there's at least one tim tebow fan that is very happy he'll stay focused on football. that would be a 2-year-old mr. towns low maximum. the cutest nephew aunty kate could ever ask for. >> look at him doing his tebow there. >> reporter: he did that upon command i think they paid him with fruit snacks. >> he wouldn't want the bronco toss sign peyton manning.

>> reporter: now you're tearing my heart strings as a hoosier. i don't know how to answer that one. >> be a good aunt. not a peyton manning fan. >> reporter: i'll try. >> thanks, kate. crandy crowley tells us what's going on behind the scenes at the mitt romney campaign. why his people think their man is a lock for the nomination. we'll talk to two-time presidential candidate dennis kucinich. he's just become a victim of a redrawn congressional district and maybe anti-incumbent fever. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow.

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in this half hour the road ahead for mitt romney and why his people think the battle or the republican nomination is all but over. we'll also talk with the two-time presidential candidate and lib republic and liberal iconoclast dennis kucinich who just lost his house bid. and a look at the new and improved ipad. first what's going on behind the scenes at the mitt romney campaign on this important day after super tuesday. his people are doing the delegate math and say their man is going to win the nomination. but they're also asking, where's the love? and they know, at least they say they know they have some work to do. our chief political correspondent candy crowley is here with us. you were reporting today up at romney headquarters last night reporting today on their sense after. they're trying to say it's us, we're inevitable. everybody else should understand

the math but? >> reporter: first of all let's remember there's a lot of psych op that goes on in the poll realm. remember candidate hillary clinton and barack obama and it was always about she should get out. they're saying mathematical improbability. we all know if you won every prime primary from here until june you could probably pick it up. they do notice two weaknesses. that is folks who make under $50,000 a year. and they say they're doing some reach out. they have a particular ad that they like a lot that they think is about moral compasses, et cetera. and they also acknowledge the fact that he's kind of loses the empathy game. and that's something they're trying. and i think we've seen it along the way, actually, for the past ten days or so we've seen some sort of moments. trying to warm up the candidate they say they know hasn't been out there. >> he's working at it. the math is in their favor.

when they look at the field of four including governor romney, this he know every now and then you hear this buzz. if santorum or gingrich can't take them out maybe we'll have a brokered convention. maybe somebody will get in late. does that make them nervous? >> reporter: they're not. during the huckabee forum where everyone except for ron paul showed up, there was a casual conversation between the three candidates, gingrich, santorum and romney, about the idea of a brokered convention that some sort of fifth person would suddenly all come. they all said no way. ten weeks between then and november to put up a fight against a sitting president of the united states is not going to happen. they think brokered it seems to me they think about how about if you pair up with this guy and keep it in the team? >> negotiate not new person. got it. candy crowley, appreciate your help tonight. president obama remember he's on the ballot, too. he made a quick trip to north carolina today at a truck

factory near charlotte he pushed his all of the above for energy sources and called for fuel-efficient vehicles as well as an end to government subsidies for big oil companies. the president won north carolina back in 2008. yes, he'd very much like to take it again this year. >> i always tell people, i am one of the best advertisements for north carolina. i love this state. love this state. [ cheers and applause ] >> everybody here is so nice, so welcoming. even the folks who don't vote for me. they're nice to me. they usually wave five fingers. >> while the president was on the road pushing his message, his campaign was making news of a different kind of messaging. in an effort to help his re-election bid the president is going hollywood with a new documentary about his first term set for release next week. cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin has more on that. jess, what do we know about this documentary and why?

>> reporter: it's one of those things that comes standard these days with a campaign, john. you've got a candidate check. logo check. campaign film that frames the narrative of the campaign, check. this one's more like a short film or a long video. it's about 17 minutes long. and this one also is about the first president's as you say first term. not his personal biography. it tells the story about his presidency the way his campaign strategists want voters to see it. the director is davis guggenhe michigan,. did the original obama biograph cal films in 2008. he won an oscar for "inconvenient truth." they're going to show it at house parties next week. it cost $163,000. chump change by hollywood standards. >> and by campaign standards these days i guess, too. the messaging of a campaign is very important. i understand there's a fight within the party over what role same-sex marriage should have at the democratic convention later

this year right there in north carolina where the president was today. >> reporter: this could get interesting. the man who chairs that convention, los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa, he says today support for gay marriage should be included in the democratic party platform. obviously that's a problem because the president himself has not come out for gay marriage. he says the his stance is evolving on the issue. today the president's campaign manager sort of kicked the can down the road saying that he's going to leave that decision to the delegates, the convention delegates will decide eventually what goes in the platform. but john, as you know this is a difficult balancing act. because on the one hand the campaign doesn't want to risk angering their liberal base or frankly angering wealth any gay donors they're counting on. on the other hand, they can't alienate socially conservative swing voters in key swing states. >> here's predicting they kick the can down the road for now and try to deal with that before the convention so they don't have a big fight at the con saengs over same-sex marriage.

just a bet, jessica yellin. our chief white house correspondent. now we turn to a form will presidential candidate who found out yesterday he's about to become a former member of congress. >> did you see a ufo? >> i did. and the rest of the account -- it was unidentified flying object. >> this department of peace would hold peace as an organizing principle. >> richard b. cheney, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial and removal from office. >> democratic congressman dennis kucinich lost his bid for re-elections last night to congresswoman marcy captor in a redistricting march that pitted the two democratic colleagues and friends against each other. it was a bitter campaign. in the end kucinich offered what you might call half-hearted congratulations. >> i would like to be able to congratulate congresswoman captor. but i do have to say that she ran a campaign in the cleveland media market that was utterly

lacking in integrity. >> congressman kucinich joins us now from capitol hill. congressman, you were not thrilled last night. and my condolences on your loss. i know it's hard to lose a campaign. you were not thrilled last night. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash poke to the winning candidate, marcy "capote" for today. she says you guys have been friends and she hopes this. we have a personal relationship as well as a professional one. >> and now? >> i think that that will remain. a little time for healing, but i think that will remain. >> will there be healing? >> are you friend? will you be friends? >> thank you for this counselling session. i can tell you that, look, i get along with everyone here. it was a tough campaign. it was basically set by redistricting. when there were two separate redistricting efforts to try to stop me from staying in congress. and once the redistricting's done, in this case it was very difficult for me to be able to make up the lost ground at the

voting booth yesterday. >> you explored running out in washington state. that's one of the things that your former friend anyway or your future friend marcy captor used against you. she compared you, dirty talk in cleveland, to a guy named lebron james. let's listen to a bit of that ad. >> first there was art modell. then lebron james. >> i'll take my talents to south beach. >> looks like next to abandon us is dennis kucinich. >> you thought that was a cheap shot, didn't you? >> think about it, okay? my district is chopped up so i had just part of it left. there had been rumors they were going to eliminate everything. that's when the other stories came out about well maybe i'd run in other places. hello. i ran in cleveland. that's my home. i made every effort to keep that seat for the people in the community. and so it didn't work out. but the way that the campaign was run was something that was

surprising to me. but i'm going to go beyond that. look, this country has bigger problems than whether i'm in congress or not. this country has to be concerned about getting jobs for all and healthcare for all and education for all. stopping a war with iran. >> forgive me for interrupting but how does dennis kucinich go forward? you've been a mayor in cleveland, a loud and active voice in the peace movement, in the social justice movement. how do you get your voice heard now? >> look, you only need a place to stand. you have a place to stand. the point is that if you are committed to social and economic justice whether in or out of congress you can make a difference if you want to. there are many people making a difference. dr. king never held an office ghandi never held an office. people like me who have never served and made a difference. i happen to have served congress 16 years at the end of this templt i think i made a difference on important issues. but you know what?

the defeat? look, i've lost before. there's always a tomorrow. and i am very grateful for all the people who have supported me over the years. but my commitments are solid. they're as constant as the north star. >> congressman we'll keep in touch in the future and see whatever those future endeavors bring. appreciate your time tonight, sir. >> thank you very much. newt gingrich and rick santorum each say they're the one to take on mitt romney. but it's governor romney in the driver's seat. the truth about where the race stands the day after super tuesday. and there are more than 1200 billionaires in the world. who's the richest? we've got the new list. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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tonight's truth is about last night and where mitt romney's six out of ten super tuesday leaves us the evening after. he is without a doubt in the driver's seat and with a commanding lead. truth is even top romney advisers have the nervous look in their eyes and for good reason. to hear newt gingrich talk of being the tortoise among all the bunny rabbits reminds is this has been a pretty whacky republican race. he remains on a path with some tough potholes. he continues to struggle, for example, among white evangelicals and tea party voters. his own top aides concede a problem connecting, the empathy thing with downscale voters. he's yet to win a contested race in the south. in short the man likely to win the republican nomination is succeeding despite not because of his party's base coalition. don't get me wrong. governor romney has many strengths as a candidate, not

the least of which is winning despite weaknesses. that's a sign of toughness and smarts. but his rivals, well, they just can't accept it. they know the delegate math. they know the fundraising advantages. they have to hope that in this case the number do lie. >> we've got some great states coming up for us. this race is going to change again in the next week. and kansas can lead the charge. >> if we win both alabama and mississippi next tuesday night, this is a whole new race for i think the ninth time in the cycle. i mean, this race is doing this. >> truth is in the week ahead there is more than anything a contest between gingrich and santorum. if both are still in the race a week from now after kansas and alabama and mississippi weigh in, that would make the likely romney nomination even more likely. four as in four candidates is another number that works to governor romney's advantage. let's talk truth tonight with congressman jason chavitz of

utah, a romney supporter. mary matalin and -- congressman to you first as a romney supp t supporters mathis pretty convincing. almost 40% there. what does he have to do to seal the deal? >> he needs to keep doing what he's doing which is winning. you've got to remind people that the majority of delegates that have been offered to date have been won by mitt romney. not the plurality, majority. so he needs to keep doing what he's doing and that is winning. as you look at the calendar going forward, all these states coming up are proportional until we get to utah. i'm going to bank on the fact that mitt romney is going to carry utah. >> mary, you've been through a few of these rodeos. what is it? when people come up to you and say, romney, can't have this, can't have that. don't like this. what's the doubt? >> the process is designed -- it's a new process to give more people in more states a voice. and they're taking advantage of this. the romney can't close argument,

the converse is also true. the conservative any but romney can't close and he is closing better than they are. he overcame a double digit deficit in ohio. he won catholics in ohio. he was second in every place, he wasn't first except north dakota which included newt's neighbor, tennessee. he needs to keep doing what he's doing and you put up and rather than focus on his negatives, you raised a very important point. he's tough. they were attacking him in those debates. every ad that's up and attacking him, he doesn't whine. he keeps fighting. made that point last night. >> let me play devil's add vvoc. a lot of people last night were looking at the ohio map. hillary clinton won obama in the democratic primary four years ago. romney wins in cincinnati, around columbus, around cleveland. a lot of republicans are saying that means he's weak because he's not winning out in those

rural counties. rick santorum's kicking his butt. what if it means that romney wins the nomination, that those rural votes come home and he gets them any way and he's more competitive than the other republicans in the areas where democrats need to get votes? >> certainly, the white house and this president knows that no matter who ends up being the nominee and we believe it will be romney, it's going to be a tough election. it's a 50-50 country. there's no question it's going to be a tough election. but when you look at places like ohio and pennsylvania, i think the argument that this white house and president are going to put forward is that this election is going to be about a choice and mitt romney has said some things that don't make that choice very positive for him in terms of the working class voters and middle class families that are really struggling. president obama has been speaking directly to them and putting forth policies that are going to let them succeed. >> this is a little silly and i

concede the point. governor palin, who does not work for this network and gets paid for another one and isn't really supposed to come to this network, decided to talk to the camera. i asked our camera man to ask her a question. >> is this open convention question, if we wind up with an open convention, if someone wants to throw your name into the hat, would you stop them? >> as i say, anything is possible and i don't -- i don't close any doors that perhaps would be open out there, so no, i wouldn't. close that door and my plan is to be at that convention. >> what do you make of that? is the leader of the republican party, vice presidential nominee, is that person supposed to say, let's see what happens and i'm going to be there or of course not. it's going to be one of those candidates. >> i think it was a fair enough answer.

i thought the question, come on, we're not going to have an open convention. as long as mitt romney's doing what he's doing, talking about jobs and the economy. he is the leader at this point. he's going to have to slug it out and fight for each vote, but i don't think we're going to have an open convention. >> mary, if somebody says we're going to put your name in -- >> hey. >> why isn't the answer? >> i don't know. i'm a big fan of hers, but of course not. there can't be a brokered convention because there are no brokers and there can't be, there just aren't anymore. unless something happen, it's going to get the delegates that he needs, so i think this is part of conservatives really continuing, wanting to say look, we're not connected to you yet. we want to trust but verify. we want you to know we're watching. >> you only get half a sentence.

>> it's vintage sarah palin. it's all about her, but it does underscore the fact that her supporters don't like romney. >> she voted for newt and romney won alaska. appreciate it. erin burnett "outfront" coming up. erin, you've got on important guest. the chairwoman of the senate intelligence committee. >> dianne feinstein's going to be our guest. leon panetta and john mccain with some tense back and forths today. john mccain thinks the u.s. should be getting involved in syria. we're going to talk to dianne feinstein about what she thinks and the latest intelligence reports these gotten over the last couple of days about iran and some news on what she thinks israel may be prepared to do right now with iran. back to you. >> very important. thank you. when we come back, the biggest solar flare in five years lights up the surface of

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back in with kate balt win. hello there. >> good evening, everyone. some stories to catch you up on. the vatican has been hacked. the international group anonymous says it's responsible for shutting down the catholic church's website for several hours today. the hackers say they're not attacking the faithful, just the church for its doctrines and the

way it handled sexual abuse scandals among other things. the u.s. arm has target ed many religious websites. and you're looking at images of the sun unleashing a huge solar flare overnight. the biggest in five years and nasa says it's blast of radiation is rushing towards earth right now. it could trip up power grids and force planes to change their flight path. and there are 1,226 billionaires on earth, but it takes $69 billion to be the richest. carlos slim tops the forbes list of richest people for another yearment bill gates in second and warren buffett lands in third with 44 billion. that is a lot of billions. >> like the only game i wouldn't come coming in third